Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-06-19
CULTIVATION OF cRANsrRRIrs



To q correspondent who writes for
directions a. 10 the successful raising
q cranberries. the following sugges-
tons are given; The requisites for
cranberry culture are a soil of muck
OF peat that can be drained for twelve
or eighteen inches below the surface, a
supply OF water az hand sufficient TO
allow the meadow to he flooded at will
and an abundance OF pure sand. You
want water for the purpose Of protect
ing your vines 50 that you can flow
your bog and protect it from freezing,
and afteFward, in the spring tiIne, for
the purpose OF killing the vermin that
ntest the vines. I0u need 10 protect
the crops, when very severe frosts come
on suddenly, by rapidly flowing the
bog and covering the berries. thus saw
ing them.
The surface Of the marsh should be
first pared OF, with a machine OF 9TH
eTwiSe, removing all sod. stumps aud
roots. Then cover 10 depth Of three
20 eight inches with sand or fine gravel
the deeper the sand the longer the
bog will last. Loan will not do, be-
cause IL brings in weeds and grasses,
and Is not 50 warm as sand. The sand
assists IN protecting the berries from
frost and injury. II keeps ont weeds
and serves as q mulch IN warm wsa-
ther. IL also keeps the bogs from run
ming 70 vines, because cranberry vines,
II you put them in the mud, will run
so much 10 vine that they will not
make the nprights on which the ber-
ries grow. The sand has TO be wheeled
IN wheelbarr0ws on planks and spread
by hand. Before sanding, make ditch
IS about three rods apart, all running
into a main ditch, and with such
direction and fall as will speedily con-
duct the water from the dam over
the bog, and RoSt readily drain il
of to a depth Of at least eighteen
inches.
Fertilizers are seldom applied, as
they canse too much wood growth at
the expense Of the fruit. Ground bone
in moderate quantities is probably the
safest fertilizer to use. Boys run out
after a time, but may be renewed by
moving and burning the vines and re-
sanding. There are boys on Cape Cod
that are yielding probably for their
thirty-second year. The vine Is very
hardy, and may be set at any time, but
the spring Is best. The usual course is
to punch holes in the ground, about
eight or ten inches apart each way,
and insert therein two or three vines,
and afterward press the soil around
them. Some eultivators of large ex-
perience set the vines in shallow fur
rows and cover them, leaving ont the
ends of the vines. II is important to
put them down below the sand, so that
they may take root in the sod. Great
care should be used in selecting the
plants. Those which have the green
est and most bushy foliage are the
poorest plants for bearing, but the
most fruitful vines may be known by
their greenish-brown leaves and the
why texture of the wood. Cuttings
may be used instead Of vines. and, If
plentifully sown, they cover the ground
completely, We have known OF in
stances where the vines we're cut in
pieces with a hay-eutter, sown broad
cast and then narrowed in. Keep the
plants well cleaned OF weeds for two
years, and by the end of that time the
vines will have full possession Of the
ground. The yield the third year will
be about fifty bushels TO the acre, the
following year il will be about one
hundred bushels, and after that posi-
bly, three hundred or even four hun
bred bushels TO the acre, but the aver
age for any number Of seasons is one
hundred to one hundred and fifty bush
els. When plants are set out in March,
II the bog is kept covered until June
LIST, or until danger Of frost is past,
most Of the vine insects win be killed
except the fireworm, which Is killed by
sprinkiing the vines with 4 strong so
luton Of tobacco. IL is necessary,
also, to flood the bog when early frosts
threaten il, and 80 turn of the water
before the berries rot. All the insect
pests can be destroyed by frequent
hooding.
Cran5erries ripen in this latitude
about Nov. lst. The vines should
then be picked clean Of fruit. The
cranberry rake, made of bent sheet
, iron, with q row Of V-shaped teeth on
: its lower edge, can often be used 10
advantage. The leading varieties OF
the cranberry are the Bell, the Bugle
and the Cherry. The Early Bell is the
standard early cranberry, Of good size
and dark color and very productive.
| Black Bell is hardy, good size, dark
color and yields well. Richmond Bell
I Is large, fair, very prolific, but rather
/ late. Bugle is large, long, not early
I fruit apt 70 be coarse aud shaded green
good on well sanded boys, not cold.
I Creeper is cherry extra large
/ light color, very prolific, rather late
not a good keeper, adapted 10 localities
subject to scald. Long Pond is a use
less sort. The Cherry cranberry IL 81
two kinds-large and small. IL is very
hard, dark. crimson, medium early
and most popular market berry
The darker the color the better the